


Stay Hydrated

by philsdrill



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Fainting, Fluff, Food mentions, M/M, Nausea, Phan - Freeform, Phan Fluff, Phandom - Freeform, Phanfiction, Playlist, Playlist Live, VidCon, YouTube, YouTube Convention, phan fic, phanfic, phanfluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-26 00:15:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14988599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/philsdrill/pseuds/philsdrill
Summary: At a YouTube convention, Dan gets up too fast in excitement to see his American friends. What seems to be a combination of dehydration and his orthostatic hypotension causes him to pass out.





	Stay Hydrated

**Author's Note:**

> If you happen to have read this before, I posted this in August 2017 on tumblr. Also if anyone's interested in following me on tumblr - I'm more active on there and there's more fics - you can find me at [philsdrill](https://philsdrill.tumblr.com).

So far, the YouTube convention had been quite exhausting. Both Dan and Phil were struggling a bit with the change in timezones and they’d just done a several-hour long meetup. They had a bit of time before they were due to be on a panel, but it wasn’t really long enough for it to be worthwhile to head back to their hotel room.

They’d been sitting in one of the youtube lounges and had managed to bag themselves the comfiest looking sofa. They both planned to relax for a while and then get a coffee just before the panel. While Phil had been relaxing with his phone, Dan had taken the meaning of relax a bit further and ended up falling asleep.

When it was getting close to half an hour before the panel, Phil started to wake Dan up. He wanted to make sure they both had enough time to grab a coffee and prepare themselves for the panel. Phil woke Dan up slowly, not wanting to startle him awake as that might make him a bit cranky. Instead, he squeezed Dan’s arm lightly and started talking to him.

Five minutes later, Dan was mentally awake, talking to Phil and gradually losing the sleepy huskiness his voice had acquired in the brief time he was asleep.

“Dan, Phil, I haven’t seen you guys in so long,” a familiar voice called out, approaching them.

Phil looked up to see it was Cat, a friend of theirs that they only saw once or twice a year when they came over to the States for these big YouTube events.

“Hi Cat,” Phil said, getting up to greet her with a hug.

Phil put his arms around Cat for a second, then stepped back to allow Dan to do the same. Dan jumped up from the sofa and engulfed her in a similarly brief hug. When Dan stepped back, there was an air of unsteadiness about him, a sway in his step, and Phil knew something was wrong.

Dan had paled and stumbled backwards towards the sofa. Phil kept close to him, guessing that Dan had just stood up too fast and was feeling a little lightheaded. He was about to ask Dan if that was the case, when his eyes slid shut, his head fell sideways and he started to fall forwards in slow motion.

Phil, his instincts surprisingly quick, was able to reach out and catch Dan, stopping him from falling all the way to the floor. Phil had secured him just under the arms and was able to lower him down onto the sofa.

“Oh my God, Dan, are you okay?” Cat exclaimed, clearly not realising that Dan was currently unconscious.

“He fainted. I think he got up too fast,” Phil explained, “Could you go and grab some water?”

Nodding in understanding, Cat rushed off to the other end of the room, where there were tables with snacks and things. Phil knelt down on the floor in front of the sofa and started to speak to Dan to try and help to bring him back to consciousness.

“Dan, Dan,” he said, softly yet urgently, squeezing his hand.

At first it had no effect, but Phil knew it could be a good few seconds or even a minute before Dan woke up. He’d been in this situation before; Dan’s circulation was a bit slow for his height, and it took a minute for his blood to catch up when he stood up that fast. He was probably dehydrated too, which wouldn’t help; they’d been thrown into a hot climate and now Phil thought about it, they hadn’t had anything to drink in hours.

When Cat returned with a bottle of water, Dan was still completely out of it.

“Phil do you want me to get someone?” she asked.

“I think he’ll be fine,” Phil explained to Cat, “This has happened before and he didn’t hit his head or anything.

As Phil waited, he continued to squeeze Dan’s hand gently every so often and say his name. Moments later, Phil was surprised by a gentle squeeze in return. Phil knew at this point, that Dan was conscious, but still a bit out of it to do much.

“Dan, you’re okay. You got up too fast and fainted, but I caught you before you could hurt yourself,” Phil explained to Dan, now confident that he could be heard, “I need you stay laying down at the moment, but we’ll get you up in a minute or two.”

Slowly Dan cracked open one eye and blearily mumbled to Phil, “Mmmm Phil.”

“Yeah Dan, I’m here,” Phil told him, “How are you feeling?”

“A bit fuzzy… what happened?” Dan said, stumbling over his words, a little confused.

“You’d been lying here for a while and then Cat appeared and you jumped up to hug her, but after you hugged her you passed out,” Phil explained, “I caught you and got you back on here.”

“Thanks,” Dan mumbled, groaning.

“Are you still feeling light-headed or dizzy? D’you feel sick at all?” Phil questioned him, knowing it was important to get an idea of Dan was feeling before he attempted to get him sitting up again.

“A little bit,” Dan said, nudging his hand back into Phil’s.

“Cat went and got some water for you,” Phil explained after a minute of giving peace, squeezing Dan’s hand again, “How about I give you a hand to sit up and you can have a drink?”

“Okay,” Dan said, a little unsure.

Phil hooked his hands through under Dan’s armpits and held onto his back, giving him a little help to sit up. They took it slowly, Dan sitting with his head on his knees and then lifting it up slowly. As he rested back against the sofa, Phil put an arm around him to keep him steady.

“Cat, water please,” Phil said to their friend, holding out the hand which wasn’t holding Dan.

Cat opened the water bottle and passed it to Phil, saving him the effort of doing it one handed. Phil held the water up to Dan’s mouth, who brought his own hand up to the bottle to guide it in. Dan sipped at the water slowly, and after a minute or two Phil decided he was strong enough to hold the bottle for himself now.

After a while, Dan moved the bottle away from his mouth and screwed the cap back on, “I’m feeling a bit better now.”

“You feeling up to standing?” Phil asked, “Though clearly I’ll be right there in case something goes wrong.”

“I think so,” Dan nodded, a little uncertainly.

Phil got to his feet and stood in front of Dan, reaching out a hand to help him up. Dan got to his feet with no problem and was immediately engulfed in Phil’s arms. Dan rested his head on Phil’s shoulder and breathed deeply.

“Okay?” Phil asked, wanting to make sure Dan was steady before he let go.

“I think so,” Dan nodded into Phil’s shoulder, slowly lifting his head up.

They separated so much that Phil was left with his arm around Dan, but that was it. He didn’t want to break contact entirely in case Dan was to faint again; plus, they had their excuse at the ready if anyone commented on their closeness.

They went for a little walk around the room while Dan got used to being upright again, while Cat waited at the sofa with their stuff. As they reached the other end of the room, they stopped off at the snack area, where they each got a coffee and something sugary to eat. Phil had a feeling Dan would be fine after that; his body was probably just needing some energy and something to drink.

With their panel fast approaching, they wished a goodbye to Cat, with the promise that they would catch up properly at some point in the next couple of days. They finished their coffees and binned the cups, and as they approached the backstage area, Phil made sure that Dan was feeling okay to do the panel. He seemed fine now, and he hadn’t made any comments about heading back to their room, but Phil just wanted the confidence that this was what Dan wanted.

“You sure you’re feeling okay to do the panel?” Phil had asked him, rubbing his hand up and down Dan’s back.

“Yup, I feel mostly better,” Dan said, “Still a bit ehhh… but I have a seat so I’ll be fine.”

“If at any point during it you’re not feeling well… umm… pat me on the shoulder and I’ll think of something,” Phil told Dan, wanting to make sure Dan could signal to him if he wasn’t feeling good.

The panel went well, everyone was introduced, then the discussions began. Phil kept an eye on Dan throughout, making sure that he didn’t go pale or space out or anything. The only thing Phil did notice was that Dan kept drinking a lot of water, but that was a good thing.

As they got up at the end, Phil kept close to Dan, knowing that this could be where things could go wrong. Dan seemed a little uncoordinated, tripping over his chair leg and stumbling slightly. Phil reached out and put his hands around Dan’s ribcage, stepping forward to be closer to him.

Phil could hear the screams of the fans freaking out about them making contact, but he blocked it out. He wanted to make sure Dan made it off this stage without any incident; at the moment he didn’t know if he needed the support, but he was keeping a hold of Dan as a precaution.

As soon as they were backstage, Phil guided Dan in the direction of the nearest seat and encouraged him to sit down, “Are you feeling okay?”

“Still not really,” Dan admitted, “I felt a little better before the panel, but I’m feeling a bit dizzy and whatever again…”

“Right,” Phil said, resting his hand on Dan’s shoulder, “We’re going to head back to our room, get you something to eat and let you lie down for a bit.”

“Okay,” Dan nodded slowly.

“If you don’t mind, I’m going to find someone to lend us a hand,” Phil said to Dan, lifting his hand from Dan’s shoulder, “Just if you’re feeling dizzy I’d rather… You stay here, I’ll be right back.”

Phil cut himself off as he saw a flash of familiar brown curls through a gap in the curtain. He hurried in that direction and sure enough, there he found PJ.

“Hey Peej, haven’t seen you in a while,” Phil said approaching him from behind.

“Oh,” PJ said, spinning around in surprise, “Phil, hi.”

After PJ gave him a brief hug, he asked the inevitable, “Where’s Dan?”

Even PJ, one of their closest friends was surprised to see them apart and could probably guess that something was up.

“Yeah, about that,” Phil started, “I came to ask you a favour. Dan’s sitting down at the other side of that curtain. He’s feeling a bit dizzy and I wondered if you could help us back to our room?”

“Yeah, of course,” PJ nodded, sounding a little concerned, “What’s wrong? Is he sick?”

“He got up too fast earlier and fainted,” Phil explained, getting PJ to follow him to where Dan was, “You know he has problems with that now and then. I’m sure he’ll be fine with some food and a bit of rest.”

Phil helped Dan up, then he and PJ sandwiched him between them, each with an arm around his back. At any other time, Dan would’ve felt a bit silly being walked like this, but he stayed quiet, letting his two friends help him. Phil knew that Dan wasn’t feeling too good, but his silence just confirmed this.

In the lift up the many floors to their room, Dan rested his head on Phil’s shoulder and yawned tiredly. PJ kept quiet, knowing that if his head was spinning he would want some peace. He accompanied Dan and Phil all the way to their room, only leaving them once Dan had made it to their bed.

“Thanks for the help,” Phil thanked him, as he headed to the door to let PJ out, “I’m glad he hasn’t fainted again, I just wanted to be careful.”

“It’s no problem,” PJ said, “Now, I’ll leave you two in peace, but let’s catch up at some point in the next day or two, yeah?”

“Yeah, of course,” Phil nodded, “I would invite you to stay for a bit now, but Dan probably wants to sleep and you probably have places to be, so I’ll message you about it.”

After saying goodbye to PJ, Phil picked up the room service menu and took a seat next to Dan on their bed, “Let’s get something to eat. We didn’t have much for lunch and you’re probably needing some food.”

“Phil, I’m not really feeling like eating,” Dan groaned.

“What about something pretty plain?” Phil suggested, “Like you could have chicken nuggets and chips?”

“I’m not really that hungry,” Dan complained, “Can’t you just order something and I’ll nick a few chips?”

After a bit of arguing, Phil ordered Dan a kids portion of chicken nuggets and chips, and an adult-sized plate of pasta for himself. Dan was clearly embarrassed to be having a kids portion, but Phil argued that it made the most sense if he wasn’t feeling like eating much. Dan insisted that it would be a better idea not to order him anything, but Phil wasn’t having that.

The food arrived about half an hour later. They had been sitting drinking water, with Phil being extra concerned about Dan, he was worried that he could be dehydrated. Phil was starving, itching to eat his food from the moment he got up to let it in the door. Dan was less than enthused and sat picking at his plate of chicken nuggets and chips. He ate a little, mainly to keep Phil happy, then laid his plate to the side when he’d had as little as he could get away with.

Dan took his jeans off and let them fall to the floor, before climbing under the covers in just his underwear and t-shirt. He let Phil know that he was going to try and sleep for a bit, then maybe he would feel better.

Knowing the chips would be cold before Dan felt like eating again, Phil helped himself to a few, before tidying their plates up into a pile on the desk. He sat down next to Dan and had a bit of quiet internet time on his laptop, while Dan tried to get some sleep.

Unbeknown to Phil, Dan wasn’t actually asleep, instead laying with his eyes closed and doing his best to clear his mind enough to sleep. Surprisingly, it was a struggle; Dan had been expecting to fall asleep easily as he hadn’t been feeling great. He wasn’t feeling so dizzy now that he was lying down, but now he seemed to be faced with waves of nausea hitting him and forcing him to think about what he should do.

Dan tried to ignore the feeling, but he only felt worse. He really regretted giving into Phil’s demands and eating something. It wasn’t sitting well in his stomach. Dan started to panic a bit about his situation; if he had to run to the bathroom to throw up, he would need to get up quickly and if earlier was anything to go by, he might end up passed out on the floor.

“Phil, I feel like I might throw up,” Dan said to Phil, “But if I get up suddenly…”

Phil shut his laptop and got up, heading across the room to their suitcases. Phil had brought a carrier bag to keep his shoes separate from his clean clothes and now it was empty as he’d been wearing them. He grabbed the bag and headed over to Dan, who was curled up on his side looking miserable.

“Hey,” Phil said, holding out the bag, “You can use this if you need to, but I think you should sit up a bit.”

Groaning, Dan pushed himself up from the bed and slid back until he was sitting, leaning against the headboard. Phil handed him the bag and hopped up onto the bed, next to him.

“How bad are you feeling?” Phil asked, wanting to get an idea if Dan felt on the verge of throwing up, or if it was just a mild feeling.

“I don’t know, like I feel quite nauseous, but not super bad,” Dan said, his breathing a bit rushed and shallow.

“Try and take deep breaths,” Phil said, snaking his arm around behind Dan, “Big and slow. It’ll help you feel a bit more calm.”

For the next twenty minutes, Phil sat there with Dan, making sure he wasn’t doing anything that would make him feel worse. Phil held a bottle of water, which periodically he would pass to Dan, sometimes a little water helping to calm his stomach.

Eventually, with a rather loud yawn, Dan let Phil know that he was feeling a bit better, “I think I’m feeling a little better now.”

“Oh good,” Phil said, “I was starting to worry about you feeling that ill just from standing up too fast.”

“I think the jetlag and my confused body clock didn’t help,” Dan said, yawning again, “I’m so tired.”

“Are you going to try and sleep again then?” Phil asked, pulling Dan a little closer for a hug.

“I think so, yeah,” Dan nodded into Phil’s chest.

“I think we should skip on the parties later,” Phil said, “Unless you wake up, I’m just going to let you sleep through.”

“Okay,” Dan nodded, “What about you though? You should still go to the parties if you want.”

“Dan, honestly, I’d rather stay here with you,” Phil told him, “It wouldn’t be the same without you, plus I could do with some sleep too.”

“Hmmm, yeah okay,” Dan said sleepily.

Phil freed Dan from the hug and let him lay back down to sleep. Phil dumped the plastic bag on Dan’s bedside table and let him know it was there in case he did need it after all.

Phil gave Dan a little goodnight kiss and moved over to the desk so he wouldn’t disturb his sleep. After a couple of hours, Phil took a quick shower and got himself ready for bed. He’d held up pretty well into the evening, but it in the UK it was well past the late hour he would usually go to bed.

Phil, now clad in his pyjamas, slipped into bed next to Dan and put an arm around him, hopefully not disturbing his sleep. He fell asleep in no time, the bed being cosy and comfortable and welcoming after a long day.

They both woke early the next morning, the numbers on the clock seeming far too small. Dan yawned and rolled over into Phil’s chest, cuddling up close and enjoying his lover’s warmth. After they got out of bed, he likely wouldn’t get to be this close to Phil again until the evening.

“How’re you feeling?” Phil mumbled, his voice low and rough as he hadn’t used it in hours.

“Good,” Dan said, smiling into Phil’s shirt, “Like I could demolish a plate of pancakes… and I’m less tired but I could do with a coffee to wake me up a bit.”

“Shall we order some room service then?” Phil asked, “Pancakes and coffee sounds good to me too.”

It was Phil that got up to call for the room service, letting Dan enjoy the comfort of their bed for a bit longer. When Dan did get up, Phil made sure that it was slowly, letting the blood get to his head in its own time. After a breakfast of pancakes and coffee, they were ready to face the day ahead. This time, both of them made sure to stay hydrated and not get up too quickly to greet their foreign friends.

**Author's Note:**

> Stay hydrated pals… and if you need more fics to quench your thirst I have lots


End file.
